Secret Chosen One
by DesertWaterfall
Summary: John Potter is the Boy Who Lived and Harry Potter is His Brother. They were both raised at Dursleys and because of that, they stacked together. They are not enemies or rivals, they are brothers who always help each other. What happens when Voldemort is resurrected and suddenly asks Harry to join his side? Will Harry acknowledge his own dark nature? Will he turn against his brother?
1. Chapter 1 At the graveyard

**Chapter 1. At the graveyard**

"Robe me."

Wormtail, a pathetic shivering mess without a hand, immediately robed newly resurrected Dark Lord in the simple black robes.

Voldemort began examining his new body. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as snakes with slits for nostrils. His unnaturally long fingers slipped into deep pockets and drew out a wand, which he caressed gently.

"My Lord..." Wormtail choked, "my Lord... you promised... you did promise..."

Voldemort silently rose his wand at Wormtail and without a glance at his direction cast some spell that stopped rat's bleeding. Harry wasn't sure that it was what Wormtail was asking for, but at least it was something.

'_So, is he insane or not?' _Harry eyed him carefully from his tied up position at the tombstone, not sure what to expect from possibly unstable the most feared Dark Lord of all time. After all, it was the first time he met him after that fateful Halloween night (unlike his brother John, who met Voldemort at the end of the first year, even if it was just a weird wretch at the back of Professor Quirrell head).

Voldemort finally turned to the twins, both tied up and unable to move. John's hand was bleeding, because his blood was used in the ritual and Harry, well, he was just dragged here for the company, because why the hell not to grab the cup at the same time, so the brothers would win the Triwizard Tournament together. And now he was about to die because of that. His only hope was that John's unnatural lack would expend for both of them and they would somehow escape from wherever this is.

"The Potter Twins... The Boy Who Lived and his brother, both of them... What an excellent present for my resurrection." Voldemort came closer to them, with ill anticipation in his vividly scarlet eyes.

Suddenly he froze. His eyes moved from John to Harry, to John again and then to John's bleeding hand. There was a silent pause, while Voldemort's face betrayed nothing.

And then he threw back his head and laughed. It was high, insane laugh, and surprisingly genuine.

Twins looked at each other in slight bewilderment. _'So I guess he's insane after all. What a pity.' _Harry mused. _'Well, at least it increased our chances to escape from here.'_

Voldemort finally stopped laughing and turned back to them.

"Oh, this is _priceless_!" he chuckled again, looking between them with honest amusement in his eyes.

Harry had no idea what was so funny about their situation, but he wasn't insane Dark Lord to be able to understand this.

Voldemort, still insanely chuckling, turned to John and pointed his wand to his chest.

Brothers visibly tensed. _'This is it, now he just kill him and that's all, we're done...' _Harry panicked, frantically trying to come up with something, anything to help them, to stop the insane Dark Lord... But there was no time.

"The Boy Who Lived..." Voldemort drawled and again small laugh escaped his lipless mouth.

"You monster!.." John sneered at him but didn't manage to say anything else as red light hit him in the chest and he hanged there stunned.

'_What?' _Harry looked at his brother in shock. _'Stupefy? He just _stunned _him? Why?! What for?'_

Meanwhile, red eyes of a madman moved to him.

"...and his brother." Finished Voldemort, with strange amusement in his voice.

Harry just glared at him. Somewhere Wormtail released strangled confused whimper. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who doesn't understand what was going on here.

"Harry Potter... The older brother of the Boy Who Lived," again some amused chuckles. "Forgotten, hidden behind the fame of his brother. But still, rightful Hogwarts champion, fairly chosen by the Goblet of Fire from all the students, including his own brother. Fourteen years old, beating older champions from other schools, and finishing at the cup despite all the cheats my spy made for your brother to ensure his winning. What a huge potential you must have."

Voldemort was now eyeing him somewhat curiously, his wand moved aside hair strands from Harry's forehead, exposing lightning scar. The Dark Lord looked at it briefly and then returned to studying his face.

Voldemort still has to probe Legilimency at him, even if he was staring right at his eyes, which was surprising. But anyway Harry tried to enforce his Occlumency shields even more than he already did. Voldemort seemed to be less insane than before, but Harry wasn't sure what to think about it yet.

'_Why does he flatter me? Is he trying to... recruit me?' _Harry eyed the Dark Lord suspiciously, who opened his lipless mouth again.

"Join me."

'_Well, fuck. He is.' _Harry stared at him with wide-eyes. _'And it's not like I really have a choice. He just kills me if I refuse.'_

He glanced at his brother, who still hanged there lifeless and didn't hear anything. Wormtail looked confused but didn't dare to interfere. Harry turned back to Voldemort who just looked at him in expectation.

He would be able to return from here alive. Maybe even manage to get his brother with him.

There wasn't any choice, really. It even didn't matter _why _Voldemort wanted him on his side.

"What should I do?" Harry finally said, voice hoarse.

Voldemort smiled.

"Smart boy. Ravenclaw, isn't it?" Harry just frowned slightly at this, because no, it was just common sense, not his Ravenclaw nature. But it was a common sense again that he chose not to comment on this bait.

"Well," Voldemort's smile grew wider, flashing his teeth. "You will only be useful as a spy for now, which means I can't mark you. We don't want anyone to know about your true allegiance, now do we?" He took step back, tilting his head slightly, pondering something. He then turned to John and Harry froze, not daring to speak anything.

"And you can't return alone or with just a corpse of your brother, as it would bring unnecessary suspicions. How inconvenient." Voldemort stated flatly. Despite his words, he didn't look that much disappointed that he just decided to let the Boy Who Lived live again.

Harry couldn't keep his sign of relief. Voldemort glanced back at him and smirked.

"On the other hand," he began and Harry froze again. "I can't just wake him up and apparate you back to Hogwarts. Albeit it would be most entertaining." And he left a short insane laugh.

"The cup," Harry suggested after short consideration. "Pseudo-Moody couldn't rewrite original portkey, just cast another over it. So if we touch the cup, it should return us back to Hogwarts. We just need a convenient opportunity to grab it."

Voldemort looked at him and raised a hairless brow in silent question. Harry decipher it in a couple of seconds.

"It's _obvious _who your spy is. He always tried to subtly help John with tasks, he held a strange fondness for Dark Arts and there are ingredients for Polyjouce stolen from Potions lab."

He figured it all after the second task, really. And also that the point of all this is to prepare his brother as a _ritual ingredient _of some sort. He knew that some dark rituals required sacrifices that went through special preparations. Which usually were just torturing, but sometimes the requirements were more complex (in this particular situation, Harry was musing, it was to emphasize "enemy" qualities in John and to make a fighter from him). So it was clear that the actual tournament was just used as preparation and that's why Pseudo-Moody helped John instead of messing up with him and let him die. And also that this ritual was likely to help the Dark Lord to gain his body back, in one way or another, because it was obviously the most pressing matter for him. And that the culmination should happen at the last task because it's the end of the tournament and so also the end of preparation. He just thought that it would be something _during _the task itself and didn't expect kidnapping thought the winning cup!

_That _was his Ravenclaw nature. Not just the common sense he demonstrated earlier.

"Smart boy," Voldemort smirked at him. "That settled then. I arrange a mock duel between us and you grab the cup to take you both back. I'll contact you about your allegiance later."

He then turned around and without further ado fired _Obliviate _at Wormtail.

"Forget everything between stunning John Potter and waking him up," Voldemort commanded in cold voice and turned back at said Potter. "Now, I can't innervate him and then just obliviate. Someone would surely check him for memory gaps. So, let's wake him up in a way that he won't remember being stunned at all."

Before Harry realized how exactly Voldemort was going to achieve it, the Dark Lord already raised his wand and with sick smile calmly said, "_Crucio_."

John twitched and screamed in unbearable pain, while Voldemort just laughed. And it wasn't this insane strangely genuine laugh anymore, no, it was evil and cold and not in a slightest funny.

"No, stop! Stop this!" Harry couldn't hold himself, yanking against ropes toward his brother in a helpless atempt to stop his torture.

Voldemort just ignored him and continue laughting madly and holding the spell. After what seemed to be an eternity but in fact was no more than a minute, he stoped.

"You are pathetic," Voldemort hissed in John's face, while he was panting trying to regain himself, tears dropping down his face. "And this is the Saviour of the Wizarding World? You are a weak exuse for a wizard, not able to defend himself, captured like a little child. You are worse than your brother, who was at least rightfuly chosen for this stupid childish tournament. Look at youself, where is your Gryffindor corage now, when are you crying like a baby in a face of your enemy?"

Harry looked at them in horror, but couldn't stop himself from thinking that it was, in fact, perfect set up. John was stunned with silent_Stupefy_ when Voldemort was close enought for him not to see the color of the spell, and then he woke up under _Crucio _with Voldemort in almost the same position. _Of course _under effects of Torturing Curse he won't notice that there was a period of darkness, that Voldemort's position was not quite the same. His subconscious would just assume that he was hit with _Crucio _in the first place and modify memory and his own perception to match this assumprion. Not even pensive memory would reveal what actually happened.

"You thought you _defited _me thirteen years ago? That you may do it again?" Meanwhile, Voldemort continue his mocking, absolutely ignoring the second, unimportant brother. "But that wasn't you. That was your mother who gave up her pathetic life to protect her pathetic children. I must confess, she was quite smart for a _mudblood _she was." Voldemort sneered as both brothers twitched at the insult. "Powerful bit of blood magic that protected you from any harm from me. Sirious Dark Arts it is, who knew that after all she was a dark witch?" He chuckled cruely. "And Dumbledore, the fool, must have told you it was _love_! Hasn't he? You even more fool to believe that your mother, a _mudblood_, was so spectial, that her love did something that never did any other mother who died for her children. No, it was Dark Arts, not some stupid love."

Voldemort laughted and insane glint appeared in his scarlet eyes.

"But that doesn't matter anymore," he hissed right in John's face. "For I used your blood in my resurraction and now the protection is gone. I can hurt you, as you surely noticed, and I can touch you without being burned." At the last words, he mockingly patted John on his cheek and it felt _so wrong_, to see the monster making fun of caring.

Harry begun to think that he was mocked too and that he was just going to die now, when Voldemort finally took step back and said.

"Now we should see, do you worth anything at all without your mothers blood wards." With a wave of his hand, twins were free of constraining cords and falled down the tombstone. Harry quickly glanced at the name on it, as he hadn't had the opportunity to do it before. 'Tom Riddle' it said. _'Voldemort was named after his father, his _muggle _father? How interesting. I bet he's ashamed. No wonder he made up a new name for himself.'_

"Wormtail, give them back their wands."

While Wormtail cowerdly approached them, Voldemort moved away, making room for the duel.

With his holly wand back, Harry quickly glanced back at the cup. It would be so easy now, just grab John, summon the cup and they gone... But John was already stroding towards Voldemort, his mahogany wand pointed right at him, righteous anger on his face.

"Have you even been taught how to duel, John Potter?" said Voldemort softly, red eyes glinting through the darkness. He was clearly amused and didn't try to hide it.

"What do you think you're doing?" hissed Harry, approaching his brother as quickly as he could with a wounded leg and grabing brother's hand. John irritably shake it off. Harry tried again but John just angrily and quite harshly released himself.

"He insulted our mother and ourselves! He's alone, not counting Wormtail who's worthless, and surely weakened after the ritual. We should try, it's our chance!" John wishpered, quickly strading away, increasing the distance between them.

"Bloody Gryffindor," cursed Harry under his breath, hurring after him.

Voldemort just laught at them.

"First we bow to each other, John," he said with the same soft voice, bending a little. John harshly bowed. "Good. And now you face me, straight-backed and proud..." John just continued to stand where he was, glaring at Voldemort. "Excellent, you're very good at this, John. And now we duel."

Harry only just catched up with John, when the first spell left Voldemort's wand. _'Well, it would be suspicious if I leave here unscratched,' _and with this thought Harry stand in the way of a curse, defending his brother.

Of course it was Cruciatus again.

The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that he no longer knew where he was. White-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, his head was surely going to burst with pain, he was screaming more loudly than he'd ever screamed in his life -

And then it stopped. Harry rolled over and scrambled to his feet. He was shaking uncontrollably and just wagually noticed that there were spells flying around. John was naivelly trying to disarm the most feared Dark Lord of all time, while the said Dark Lord was laughing manically and lazily firing some cutting curses, not really aiming them and just enjoing himself.

Harry finally remebered what he should have done a long time ago, grabbed John's leg, aimed the wand and with quiet "_Accio_" they were gone.


	2. Chapter 2 The choice

**Chapter 2. The choice**

Things started to calm down only in Headmaster office.

There was a lot of shouting, people panicking, Victor under Imperious, John bleeding, Harry and Fleur trashing after Cruciatus, Pseudo-Moody disappears before twins even returned, true Moody found in a trunk half-dead, John trying to explain that "He's back!", but no one believes him, Fudge stating that everything is lies.

And now Professor Dumbledore was asking John to show his memory from the graveyard so he and Professor Snape could watch it in the Pensieve. After Professors immerse themselves into the memory, twins finally were able to sit in silence.

"Why Snape?" asks John after some time with clear distaste, curiously looking at two adults with heads down into the basin.

"I suspect he was a Death Eater in the first war and Dumbledore think he may notice something important about Voldemort," Harry explained.

"Urgh, always knew he's a filthy Death Eater. Anyway, Voldemort clearly is an insane monster, what else there to say?"

"I dunno. Is he as insane as before or is it a new kind of insanity, maybe?" older brother joked weakly.

John hummed and they were silent again.

To be honest, Harry wasn't sure that Voldemort was insane at all. Yes, he behaved strangely, but... wasn't it understandable for someone who lived the last thirteen years as a wraith and finally regained his body back? Putting aside all insane laughing, Voldemort's actions were actually quite well planned. The way he set John up, provoked him into duelling, hid all suspicions others may hold for Harry's involvement. He even obliviated Wormtail! And the most fascinating thing was that only Harry saw his sane actions. From John's point of view, Voldemort was indeed quite insane.

Harry glanced at Professors. Of course, they asked for John's memory. Harry was sure no one even thought about asking his memory instead. And right now it suited him just fine.

No, he wasn't jealous of his brother's fame. Actually, it worked another way around, as it was John who often wanted to just hide in the shadows and be the ordinary boy like his brother. Well, Harry was as ordinary as one can be when his brother is the Boy Who Lived. But still, no one paid him much attention before this year.

And this year would be the same if only Sirius didn't sign Harry's permission to participate in the Tournament along with John's, and John didn't insist in throwing his name into the Goblet "just for the company". No one expected that he would actually be chosen. Among all Hogwarts students Goblet choose him, Harry Potter, as Hogwarts champion. Not his brother. Not some seventh-year. No, he chose him, unimportant Potter twin who was just in his fourth year.

Harry was secretly glad that Goblet also chose John as forth champion due to Pseudo-Moody's manipulations because thanks to that public focused on him, not on Harry. Well, he did sympathize with John that everyone thought him be an attention whore, but Harry just couldn't help himself. Even when he beat Victor and Fleur on the first two tasks, everyone still paid him little attention in favour of his famous brother. And, again, it suited him just fine, thank you.

John and Harry weren't enemies, weren't rivals. They were... brothers, who always helped each other. How it may be any other way when they were raised at Dursleys where you can survive only if you stick together? (Okay, Harry may be exaggerating a little, but he really didn't like Dursleys and was immensely glad they weren't returning to them this summer or, well, never.)

They were the only family they ever had until Sirius showed up. They stuck together at Dursleys. Different Houses at Hogwarts didn't manage to separate them that much. Even with Triwizard Tournament, where Harry was the rightful champion and John was the "attention seeker", they still helped each other to prepare for the tasks. Hell, they even decided to grab the cup together, to win this stupid Tournament together, _as brothers_.

Of course, they had their fights. They weren't thick as thieves like Fred and George. They weren't even identical twins for that matter. They have different looks, different houses, different personalities. But never anything serious got between them.

They were The Boy Who Lived and His Brother. The Potter Twins. And if one of them was The Saviour of the Wizarding World, well, it was just natural that the other should help him with this.

And that's why Harry was staring now into space and trying to understand what he should do.

Because Voldemort gave him a choice.

Lord fucking Voldemort, the leader of the Dark side, actually gave him an opportunity to choose on which side to fight.

Harry never thought he would ever have this choice. Everyone just assumed that he would be with his brother, for the 'Light'. No one ever questioned this, and it didn't help the matters that Harry always defended his brother. Hell, he himself assumed this, because he could never imagine that the 'Dark' side may actually... invite him.

But here he was now. Probably insane Dark Lord gave him an offer.

It's funny, that back at the graveyard it didn't look like an actual choice. Because if he refused he would be just killed. But in fact, Voldemort let him leave, without a mark, without an oath, without _anything_ that could ensure where he stands.

"_I'll contact you about your allegiance later."_ Voldemort gave him time to think.

It was shocking, really. He had a choice. He doesn't _have to_ stuck with the 'Light', with Dumbledore. He could think for himself.

Meanwhile, Professors finally emerged from the Pensieve. Judging by the fact that they yet have to ask for Harry's memory, they didn't notice anything amiss with what they saw. As Harry thought, it was a perfect set up, to wake John up with Cruciatus.

They were saying something, commenting that Voldemort just tried to manipulate John with his merciless words, and praising Harry for quick thinking and courage when he stood in the way of the Cruciatus. He was sick at this. Harry didn't think about defending his brother at the moment. He thought that he couldn't return unscratched. And it was... _wrong_.

He could suggest his memory by himself if they don't ask. He could tell them, that John was in fact stupefied and Harry had a short conversation with Voldemort. He could and _should_ do it.

But he didn't. He needed to think.

* * *

As the days went on, Harry was still thinking. He currently sat at the dinner chatting with his friends. After several days everyone already knew his opinion on what happened and rarely asked more questions. Yes, Voldemort was resurrected. No, no one actually called him Voldemort, only 'My Lord', so technically it may be someone else. Yes, he has red eyes and a snake-like face. No, he didn't speak parseltongue in their presence because there were no snakes. Yes, Cruciatus is very, very painful. No, he has no idea why John wasn't kidnapped by Pseudo-Moody earlier if he was there all the year and all they needed was his blood for the ritual.

The last was a lie but it wasn't like he could explain how he knows such details about dark rituals and preparation of sacrifices.

In the end, the student body wasn't convinced that Voldemort indeed returned. The Dark Lord was assumed dead for too long and no one knew how he could survive and get resurrected. John already had a reputation of "attention whore", and while Harry was in a better position, his Ravenclaws friends couldn't help but point out that _technically_ it may not be Voldemort. It may be an impostor who wanted to use the name of the most feared Dark Lord. Or it may be even a very strange prank that went wrong. And really, why John wasn't kidnapped earlier if this all was true?

The last argument was actually the strongest, right after "but You-Know-Who died years ago!". Harry was sure, that there were many other students who had an answer for this, especially among Ravenclaws and Slytherins, but no one wanted to acknowledge that they knew the theory behind forbidden dark rituals.

Talking about Slytherins. Harry watched them closely because many of them were children of Death Eaters. Surely Dark Mark should behave after the Dark Lord returned and parents may have warned them. And Harry could tell that Slytherins were tensed. That may, of course, be explained by mere rumours of Dark Lord returning, so no one paid much attention to this, but still.

Harry sympathized with them. Death Eater's children also didn't have any real choice in this war. He would like to discuss it with some of them, but he can't be openly seen with Slytherins. And he still waited for the opportunity to catch Draco alone. It's not like they were friends while there was an open rivalry between John and Draco, but they were... acquaintances. Among all Slytherins Draco was the only one with whom he could possibly discuss this.

It was a shame he can't be openly associated with Slytherins. But their reputation as dark wizards without exceptions was too strong. He, Brother Of The Boy Who Lived, couldn't allow this. That was a reason why he asked the Hat not to put him in Slytherin even while it thought it was the best House for him. But there was no way he could live the life of an ordinary boy while in the House Of Dark Wizards.

Harry still thought that decision not to be sorted into Slytherin was, in fact, the most Slytherin move he ever did in his life. He escaped so many suspicions thanks to this. That was funny because statistically speaking there were more dark wizards and witches among Ravenclaws then among Slytherins. But no one seems to realize that. Well, Ravenclaws knew that of course, but even they preferred not to speak about it. Although they liked to joke that Ravenclaws may be dark, but Slytherins were just evil.

Remembering about the Dark, Harry returned to his musing about the choice Voldemort gave him. The biggest problem was that all his friends and his family (namely John, Sirius and Remus) were against Voldemort. Many of them actually hated him because he and his followers killed their loved ones. And if Harry joins Voldemort, he would be hated too by all of them. He wasn't sure he would be ever able to explain himself even to his closest friends. He may lose everyone, become a traitor in everyone's eyes and it was a huge risk to take.

But Harry himself didn't hate Voldemort. Yes, the Dark Lord killed his parents. But Harry never actually knew them as they died when he was too young and, well, it was war. People die in war, and when you choose to fight you should understand that you may lose your life. Lily and James Potter weren't casualties, they were fighters for the Dumbledore's side, and they must have really annoyed Voldemort if he decided to kill them himself. Again, it was their choice not to quit the war when they had children, and they should have understood that they risked their lives too.

So, Harry couldn't blame Voldemort for this. He fought for the cause and did what he thought was right. Harry tried to explain this to John, but he didn't get it. It was actually one of a few serious fights they had. John claimed that Voldemort was a murderous monster, but Harry couldn't help but point out that it may be because Voldemort lost and winning side is able to say anything about him now.

And even if Voldemort actually looked like a monster, as it turned out, and was at least somewhat insane, Harry still didn't hate him. Not in the last is because he knew more about his history than John knew.

Still, it was a problem. If he joins Voldemort, he essentially betrays everyone he knows.

But it may be avoided. If no one will know that he joined Voldemort, no one will hate him. After all, he didn't study Occlumency since he was twelve for nothing.

* * *

Yes, no one believed that Voldemort returned. The Daily Prophet was all about it, how Dumbledore and John were trying to fool Wizarding Britain and drag them all in a new war. John even gained a new title of the Boy Who Lied. It didn't help that Voldemort was quiet and yet had to do something.

Not in the first time Harry was glad that he wasn't in John's shoes. It really sucked to be the Boy Who Lived. He should thank Voldemort that he didn't try to kill Harry instead that fateful Halloween night.

But this whole situation reminded him why he didn't like the current government. They were the bunch of incompetent fools who couldn't keep everything in order, who sent the innocent into Azkaban without a trial and now they were afraid to accept frightening truth or at least do something to prepare in case it all wasn't lies and there was indeed a Dark Lord regaining his powers. Instead, they prefer to _gossip_.

And whose fault it was? The last war ended more than a decade ago with so-called 'Light' side winning and this 'Light' side didn't manage to make a Wizarding Britain a better place. Blood purism was still there. Muggleborns were still widely bullied. And no one took muggles seriously.

Harry didn't like it, but he also didn't think that Wizarding Britain was able to change without someone pushing it. Because look at this, they had thirteen years of peace and it didn't change anything.

In other words, Harry believed in the revolution. That the war may actually be needed, or they die in stagnation.

And he didn't believe in so-called 'Light'. They already won once and didn't achieve anything. They were afraid to change things. Of course, it's not like 'Dark' side was that much better. For example, they were for blood purism and that was just bullshit.

But 'Light' already proved their incompetence. Maybe it's time to check the other side? After all, Voldemort wasn't pureblood, Harry knew this, surely he didn't believe in blood purism himself?

Harry wanted to live in a better world and was actually ready to make it so. There was, after all, a reason why the Hat wanted to put him in Slytherin.

* * *

::What are you thinking about, little heir?::

Sudden question bring Harry back from his thoughts. A book about Blood magic lied long forgotten on his laps. He was trying to find what exactly his mother did, but it was fruitless so far.

He was currently sitting on a stone floor leaned on Sasha's side. He patted her scales, contemplating how exactly to answer her.

::I met Tom recently,:: he began. ::He gave me a lot of food for thoughts.::

::Oh? How is he? It was a couple of years I saw him last time.::

::No, it was another Tom,:: Harry paused, trying to remember how Sasha called Voldemort from the Diary. ::Not just a piece of him from the time he was young. It was the real Tom. I told you earlier, he lost his body a decade ago and now gained it back. I met him right after that.::

::Did you gave him my regards?::

Harry was taken aback for several seconds.

::Sorry, my dear, I forgot about that,:: he finally regained himself.

::Don't forget next time you see him,:: basilisk grumbled in slight disappointment.

::Sure, I'll say hi for you.::

'_No, never,' _Harry thought. _'At least not in the nearest future.'_

::So, how is he?:: Sasha repeated her earlier question.

::Well... Better than I thought. I believe he was quite happy to have his body back, but I don't sure he's stable. By the way, he looks like a snake now, I think you'll like it.::

::An actual snake?::

::Well, no. Part human, part snake. No hairs, slits instead of the nose, some scales.::

::Interesting, I would like to see him like this. Are you going to invite him here?::

Harry hummed.

::You know it's difficult,:: he carefully said. ::Current Headmaster doesn't like him. But I'm sure he'll visit you if he'll manage to get inside Hogwarts.:: Harry suspected Voldemort was actually going to take over the school altogether at some point. Surely he'll visit Chamber of Secrets after that.

::I'll wait then.::

They set in silence. He was trying to imagine what basilisk would think about Voldemort's current look. Harry himself didn't like it, but snakes have different tastes...

::What thought-food Tom gave you?:: Sasha asked after some time.

'_Thought-food?..'_ He mused in confusion. _'Oh, that!'_

::He asked me to join him.:: Harry replayed, but he wasn't sure that basilisk will understand what's the problem with this.

::Oh, it's good! You both love magic, you should get along.::

Harry glanced back at the book on his laps. It wasn't from Hogwarts Library, not even from Restricted Section. He wasn't sure the monetary fine would be enough if someone caught him with such a book or he would receive a couple of years in Azkaban. Blood magic was, after all, one of the most dangerous Dark Arts. Harry wondered how his mother managed to get her hands on one of such books and, moreover, actually succeed in casting blood protection of a force that can reflect the Killing Curse. He began to suspect his mother _really_ was a dark witch. That is, she had some experience with Dark Arts and Blood magic. Honestly, how did it happen? It's not like she had access to the library in the Chamber of Secrets.

He paused. No, Sasha would remember her if she was here. Still, it was an interesting question of how exactly Harry ended up being a parselmouth when his brother and his parents weren't. The question he still didn't have an answer for.

But yes. He loved magic. Including the Dark Arts. Well, to be honest, he loved _mostly_ Dark Arts, because over time almost all fascinating kinds of magic were deemed dangerous and labelled as 'Dark'. He couldn't put it into words how immensely happy he was that he found the Chamber and its library in his second year. Thanks to the Diary.

And according to the basilisk Voldemort 'loved magic' in exactly the same meaning.

::Well, yes,:: he finally answered. ::But that wasn't the reason he asked me to join him. It was because of his believes.::

::And you don't share them?::

::Not exactly. That's the problem.::

Sasha paused and then turned her head towards Harry and looked at him with her livid yellow eyes. Thanks to special pair of eyelids he wasn't killed on the spot.

::You're alike, little heir, you and Tom. I'm sure you'll agree on something.::

Harry signed.

::I think so too,:: he confessed. ::But all my friends, my brother, they hate him. They would hate me too. It's hard. I don't... don't want to be alone.::

::But you won't. You will be with Tom,:: Harry snorted at this. ::You will find new friends.::

He didn't answer. He already knew all of this, it was almost a week that he thought about it most of the time.

Harry... actually wanted to join Voldemort. He knew perfectly well that they were alike. Well, more alike than with Dumbledore, that is. Harry believed that he fitted more with the 'Dark' than with the 'Light'. The only problem really was his friends and his family. But, again, he could try to keep it secret. After all, Voldemort wanted a spy, not that fourteen years old schoolboy was capable of anything more. That basically means that he _should_ stay with his old friends.

There was still a risk that Voldemort indeed was an insane unstable monster. But his actions at the graveyard gave Harry hope that he may be sane. Harry wouldn't know for sure unless he came to him. And, well, it's unlikely that Voldemort will mark him right away because he's still a student and is to close to the Boy Who Lived to keep his mark a secret. Which means, that in case Voldemort turned out to be insane, Harry would be able to leave. It never too late to become the Dark Lord's enemy, after all.

So... What was keeping him here?

* * *

The letter came at breakfast on the last day of the school year brought by a nondescript brown owl.

_July 8th, 3 p.m., Leaky Cauldron. Ask for a private room._

_If you don't come you will be deemed as an enemy._

_LV_

* * *

**AN:**

**I have a confession to make. I'm in love with the Chamber of Secrets. In my canon, there must be a library about dark arts, because really, can you tell me you wouldn't put it in there if you were Salazar Slytherin?! Canon!Harry was an idiot to never explore the Chamber.**

**I read it in several fanfics how the basilisk was named Sasha. And I love it. It sounds so... snakish. And it's also a really common russian name, so it's fun. How is she alive? Well, you'll learn it soon, just keep reading.**

**The next chapter is the meeting between Harry and Voldemort, as you might get. It's already written and will be posted in two days, but sorry, it's almost as long as the previous two chapters put together.**


	3. Chapter 3 The Meeting

**Chapter 3. The meeting**

Sirius was freed a year ago after he finally got a trial. Even the fact that Pettigrew managed to run away didn't stop it. Three drops of veritaserum and Sirius was a free man again with huge reimbursement from the Ministry. Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to regain his custody over twins right away. After all, he spent the last twelve years under the influence of dementors and couldn't be named a sane man. But a year of regular visits to Mind Healer (also paid by the Ministry) and twins were leaving Dursleys for good, moving to 12 Grimmauld Place with Sirius and Remus.

Actually, Sirius hated this house. But Dumbledore was ready to let twins leave the protection of blood wards around Dursleys only if the wards around their new home would be at least as strong. And the ancestral home of the Black family was the only one to satisfy these tough requirements.

Harry suspected that after Voldemort used John's blood in his resurrection ritual, blood wards wasn't as strong as before, but on the other hand, Dumbledore and Sirius became only more paranoid after Voldemort's returning. So, nothing less than Grimmauld Place was deemed sufficient enough and Sirius was forced to suck it up.

For the same reason, their new home was also a Headquarter for the Order of the Phoenix, as it turned out.

It was so _weird _to live in the heart of the resistance when you are going to become a spy for the enemy, Harry mused. He was grateful that Fidelius stopped him from disclosing their location to Voldemort. Or the war may have ended before it even started properly. That is, if Harry wanted to share this information with Voldemort in the first place, which he wasn't sure about. Anyway, the lack of the opportunity to do so made it easier to cope. But it still was weird.

One of the downsides of Fidelius was that only selected owls could bring letters inside. Even their pet owls may not be able to return home from hunting if they weren't keyed beforehand. And because the Order was the bunch of paranoids with Mad-Eye Moody in the lead they weren't going to key any owl at all. Harry and John spent two hours convincing everyone to key Hedwig in instead of sending her off to the Burrow for the whole summer. They won in the end, but that was a hard battle. And Hedwig was placed under a charm of some sort that prevented her from carrying any letters.

Now to send a letter they needed to pass it to Sirius who then passed it to some public owl delivery. All incoming letters were redirecting to special mailboxes, separated for each person and Sirius checked all of them every day. Every mailbox had several built-in detection wards that destroyed every suspicious letter and even after that Sirius checked every letter personally before passing it to twins.

It was complex and inconvenient, but owl delivery was indeed one big hole in any protection wards.

Another problem was that no one was going to let them leave the house without an escort. But of course, twins rebelled against it too. Because really, there was no war out there right now, Voldemort was in the hiding, why they needed an escort? In the end, they came to the agreement that twins may leave the house alone only under the effects of polyjuice potion so no one would recognize them.

And that's why Harry was now standing in front of the Leaky Cauldron looking like some random muggle boy from whom Sirius stole some hairs. It was July 8th, 2:55 pm and he was _scared _.

'_It's never too late to become the Dark Lord's enemy, but that's my only chance to become his friend,' _he was trying to calm himself. _'No one will know. I don't let anyone know.'_

He made several calming breaths and looked at the watch on his wrist. 2:58 pm. It was time.

Harry walked inside as calm as he could manage right towards the counter. "Good day. I think I'm expected at one of the private rooms."

Tom glanced at the unfamiliar boy and nodded. "Room tree. Upstairs, on the left," and without any other word he returned to whatever he was doing before.

Harry paused once more in front of the door. He could go away. Voldemort is likely insane anyway. There is no need to risk everything,_everyone _. If someone will find out about this, there may be no way back.

Harry inhaled deeply and knocked.

"Come in."

The room was small, with a simple wooden table and several chairs around it. On one of them sat a man reading a book. He was tall, pale skin, jet black hairs and dark eyes, simple black robes. Quite handsome, Harry noted. He appeared around age thirty, but taking into account how wizards aged, Harry wasn't sure about it.

The wizard looked up from the book and elegantly raised a single eyebrow in silent question. Harry paused, not sure if he came in the right room until he realized that he _was _looking like some random muggle boy not even his age.

"Polyjuice," he finally said, not willing to elaborate in case he was indeed in a wrong room.

"I see," man's face betrayed no emotions whatsoever and his voice was calm. "Do you have more potion with you?" Harry nodded. "Good."

Suddenly there was a wand in his hand pointed right in Harry's chest. At the sight of a pale yew wand Harry's heart stood still. "_Revelio_."

The feeling of polyjuice wearing off was unpleasant. He was shrinking, bubbling inside and his vision immediately blurred. Wincing he reached for glasses in the pocket of his robes. He rather liked to have a good sight, but he could understand that the other man wanted to see his actual looks. Putting glasses on, he looked at the wizard again.

And met livid scarlet eyes.

"My Lord," Harry immediately bowed, concealing his shock.

'_Of course, he would be here himself! But he looks like a human... Well, of course, he looks like a human, he wants to appear in Diagon Alley in his true look no more than I do! I should have expected this, stupid, stupid me... Wait, did I think of the Dark Lord as handsomе recently? Well, his human form is indeed quite appealing, whoever he is... Oh, fuck, it's not the time to think about this.' _Harry finally stopped his frantic thoughts.

"So, it's 'My Lord' now, is it?"

Harry hesitantly raised his eyes. Voldemort was slightly smirking, but otherwise still appeared calm.

"Yes, my Lord," Harry answered. How else could it be, if he came here today?

"Smart boy. Sit." Voldemort nodded towards one of the chairs, the book he was reading disappeared into thin air with a slight move of his hand.

As Harry proceed, he silently prayed that 'Smart boy' didn't become his nickname.

"Tell me, Harry," Ravenclaw shuddered at the sound of his name from the Dark Lord. "Why you decided to join me?"

He hesitated. Harry didn't expect this question and wasn't sure how he should answer it. Apparently, Voldemort noticed this as he continued.

"Answer we honestly. I won't punish if I don't like your reasons. You are just a boy after all."

Harry winced at this, but he knew that Voldemort was right.

"I... I don't like the current government. My Lord," he added hastily, not yet used to calling someone like this.

"Oh. And what exactly don't you like?", the Dark Lord asked, leaning against the back of his chair. His face was perfectly neutral, no emotions in his voice and it was rather eerily, but, Harry mused, it was better than insane crackling.

"Incompetence, corruption, stagnation," Harry paused but decided that Voldemort should like it, so he continued. "And I don't like that we're too friendly towards muggles."

But Voldemort didn't react at it, he just asked, "And you think I would change it?"

'_Who knows. Let's try,' _Harry thought and honestly, as required, answered: "Maybe. My Lord."

"I see," Voldemort tilted his head slightly. "And what do you want?"

"I'm sorry, my Lord," Harry frowned. "I don't understand."

"Everyone wants something for themselves when they join one or the other side. What do _you _want?"

"To live in a better world," he answered at once.

"Obviously, everyone wants this. But what place do you see for yourself in this world?" Seeing as Harry was hesitating again, Voldemort repeated. "Answer honestly."

At this Harry realized, that he didn't actually know what exactly he wanted for himself. He could only say that, well, he wanted to make the world a better place, to be able to change things if he doesn't like them.

"I..." Harry began slowly, trying to formulate his thoughts into something more specific. "I want to be... someone in power."

"And you don't think you would achieve it staying with the Light?"

"I don't like so-called Light side, my Lord," Harry repeated.

Voldemort nodded and suddenly inquired, "What do you think about blood purity?"

"I don't believe in it," Harry saw no reason in hiding this. Again, the Dark Lord wanted honest answers.

"And you still want to join the so-called Dark side?" at this Voldemort actually raised an eyebrow and it was the first sign of emotions on his face for a while.

"Yes. I think it's still better than what we have now." Harry held back that he didn't think Voldemort believed in blood purity either.

"I see," apparently that was enough for the Dark Lord, at least for now. "Look at me, Harry."

Harry obediently met Voldemort's eyes and immediately feel a push of Legilimency.

"Do you afraid of joining?"

Legilimency through mere eye contact could read only emotions. It was pretty much, actually, because in most cases it was enough to tell if you're lying or not, do you hide or suspect something. Skilful Legiliment was able to push hard enough and heard glimpses of actual thoughts or memories, still without using a spell, but it was rare.

"Yes."

Harry could hide his true emotions behind his Occlumency shields and show only what he wanted to be seen. He had practised it almost every day since his second year when he found out about Legilimency and Occlumency in the Chamber's library. He didn't meet anyone's eyes until he decided he was able to control which emotions to show, at least if Legiliment doesn't push harder to break the shields. He soon found out that Dumbledore and Snape feel free to check students emotional landscape, but they never pushed hard enough to discover Harry's shields.

"Why are you afraid?"

Voldemort was surprisingly gentle and subtle in his invasion in Harry's mind, almost like Dumbledore and definitely better than Snape. Right now Harry didn't hide anything, as his current state was absolutely natural for someone in his situation. He was afraid, curious, uneasy, but dedicated, confident somewhat, hoping for better. But even while Harry showed all emotion he currently had, every new reaction was firstly viewed behind his shields before letting it out, just in case he decided to lie or hide something. It was absolutely automatic behaviour for him now, really.

"Because my friends may find out."

That confession generated all kind of negative emotions inside him. Fear, dread even, loneliness, betrayal and even something close to suicidal. Harry honestly showed them all and Voldemort suddenly pushed deeper, clearly intrigued why exactly it caused such a response. And run right into Harry's shields.

He withdrew immediately, completely leaving Harry's mind. Voldemort's eyebrows slightly raised, but other than that nothing showed that something unusual happened.

'_Oh, so he is skilful enough to read thoughts through eye contact. Good to know,' _Harry noted. After short musing, he decided it's better to comment on what happened. After all, it's rather unusual to have any Occlumency shields at the tender age of fourteen.

"I'm natural Occlument," he lied, automatically concealing this lie in his emotional landscape. And he was right to do so, as at the next moment Voldemort entered his mind again, checking this statement.

"And how do you know it?" Dark Lord enquired. He was currently exploring Harry's shields, not hiding anymore. He noticed without a doubt that they were capable of hiding true emotions. They also were strong enough that if they would be forcefully broken it would_likely _damage Harry's mind. They won't protect the information, but not many people are ready to take that risk if they still need the person with the shields. And Voldemort needed him, so he won't be breaking them. For now.

"Victor Krum mentioned Legilimency and Occlumency two month ago, they learned about it in Durmstrang," That was only a half-lie. They indeed learn it at Durmstrang, but Victor never mentioned it. "I decided to research it and found a book in the Restricted section. Following the instructions from the book, I found my shields," There was indeed one book and it even had some training exercises, even if they were rather bad. But still, it was his official alibi that Harry prepared since the start of this year. He needed some believable explanation if someone noticed his shields, after all. "I didn't have time to train them often enough, so I can only detect when someone is entering my mind," Lie, blatant lie. "My Lord." Harry finished.

He hoped that Voldemort will buy it. After all, it should be much more plausible than learning Occlumency since twelve, when the mere existence of such art was hidden, forbidden knowledge. Of course, he could learn about it from the Restricted section, but pass to it could be gotten only since the fourth year and one year of practice wasn't enough for shields of this strength.

"I see," Voldemort finished his examination and left Harry's mind again. His face betrayed nothing, so Harry couldn't tell if he believed him or not. "You should train more, it will help you to hide your new position. And Dumbledore is a skilful Legiliment, you should be wary of him."

"I already noticed this, my Lord," and then he added, to check Voldemort's reaction to this, "And Professor Snape too."

"Yes, you should be wary of him too," he calmly answered.

'_So, I should be wary? Does it mean he's indeed not on your side anymore?' _Harry mused, _'Or you just don't want me to know that he's a Death Eater and possibly a spy?'_

"To the business now," Voldemort began. "Tell me, Harry, why did I ask you to join me?"

"Because I'm close to the Boy Who Lived and could spy on him and the others," he replayed. It was obvious, wasn't it?

"No," Dark Lord actually smiled, while Harry frowned. "I invited you because you have a huge potential, Harry. It's a lucky coincidence that you are also close to the supposed Saviour of the Wizarding World."

'_I'm sure you tell this to everyone,' _Ravenclaw didn't believe him for a moment.

"But yes, for now, while you are still a student with three more years of education, you are of small use for me," Dark Lord continued. "And because you are rather close to Dumbledore and, as a student, often will be seen naked by dorm-mates, I can't mark you. In other words, you will be able to betray me at any moment. So I hope you understand, that you won't be trusted. I won't share any valuable information with you, that you may pass to Dumbledore and use against me. But if you prove yourself useful, I may consider share knowledge with you," at this, Ravenclaw's eyes lit up and the Dark Lord smiled again. "What do you think? You spy for me for a year and if I will be satisfied, I'll teach you something beyond the school curriculum."

That wasn't a hard decision to make. Voldemort didn't appear insane, despite Harry's fears, he didn't want to mark him right away and he suggested to teach him. And in exchange, Harry should just spy for his fellow students. It's not like he could risk any important information, really.

"Deal," whispered Harry. "My Lord."

Voldemort's pleased smile suggested that there was more in this deal than Harry realized, but he can't see what.

"Excellent," drawled the Dark Lord. "Now, do you have more time?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Good. Then tell me everything you can about your brother, John Potter."

That was expected, Harry actually thought it would be the first question. "What exactly do you want to know, my Lord?"

"Let's say, what special training he got?"

Harry blinked. Then blinked again.

"Nothing, my Lord," he finally answered. What special training? Why?

Voldemort raised his eyebrows and tilted head. There was a short pause. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, my Lord. He would tell me if he had any."

What Harry was missing? There should be a reason why Voldemort thought John had some special training. Is it because he's the Boy Who Lived?

The Dark Lord chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

"Oh, it's so like Dumbledore. He didn't tell you anything," He signed and leaned a little closer to Harry. "Tell me, what Dumbledore told you about why I killed your parents that Halloween night?"

"You killed them because they were fighting against you," was there something more in it? Seems like this, otherwise Voldemort wouldn't be asking. But what?

"I see. Well, I won't be like Dumbledore," the Dark Lord leaned back into the chair and tilted his head, eyeing Harry with interest. "You see, there is a prophecy."

Harry frowned. Prophecies were not a joke. True prophecy defines a set of possible futures and, in a sense, forbids everything else. If prophecy tells that something will happen, it _will _happen no matter what you do. But it's up to you how exactly it will happen (if the prophecy doesn't specify it too). Prophecy can become a dangerous weapon in right hands, because if you know for sure what to expect, you may prepare for it, use for your own advantage or even enforce it in a way you prefer.

So, there was a prophecy that forced the Dark Lord to kill Lily and James Potters... and try to kill John. And Voldemort expected John to be trained. Does it mean, the prophecy said that John was a danger for him?

"It was made early in 1980 by Sybill Trelawney," that surprised Harry. She was actually capable of making true prophecies? Who would have thought. "My spy overhead only the first two lines of it. _'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...' _I don't know the rest, but back then, I decided that I better kill any possible candidate to my 'vanquisher'. Namely you, your brother and Neville Longbottom."

Harry tensed but then forced himself to relax. Voldemort let both him and his brother leave at the graveyard, so surely something changed.

"That is why I tried to kill you all that night. You are right, I wanted Lily and James Potter dead either way, but if it wasn't for the prophecy, I wouldn't try to kill their children." Then he winced a little. "Now, I _still _don't know the full prophecy, and it may already be fulfilled because in a sense I was 'vanquished', but I cannot be sure. And, I'm afraid, Dumbledore thinks your brother is the Prophesied child."

"He's the Boy Who Lived, it's a logical assumption," Harry agreed.

"Or because something else in the next part of the prophecy points at him. Either way, I don't think Dumbledore is satisfied with my 'vanquishing' and so will likely try to use your brother to 'vanquish' me properly. He already tried once, in your first year."

Yes, Harry always thought that the events of his first year were rather strange. Series of traps to 'protect' the Stone was too childish, almost as if designed to lure children inside. Might it be that Dumbledore indeed used his brother as a weapon against Voldemort?..

"But no one trains John now. I'm sure he doesn't know about the prophecy either, my Lord," mused Harry out loud.

"Knowing Dumbledore, he may think that the 'power to vanquish' me is love or some other rubbish along the lines, which doesn't require training and awareness of the prophecy. Still, I would like to know if John Potter will start getting any special training and, of course, I expect you to tell me the full prophecy if you'll learn it."

"Yes, my Lord." Harry paused, gaining strength to ask. "Are you going to kill John? My Lord."

Voldemort observed him silently for some time before answering.

"Right now I'm not going to do anything concerning the prophecy," he started slowly. "To the best of my knowledge, it may already be fulfilled. I won't seek John's death if it what you were asking. But if he will stand in my way, I won't hesitate to kill him. The same may be told about you, Longbottom child and basically any other."

Harry left sight of relief.

"I understand, my Lord. It's enough for me that you not seek him dead."

He realized his mistake the next moment, as Voldemort leaned closer.

"Look into my eyes," Harry obeyed and felt the push of the Legilemency. "Would you turn against me if I kill your brother?"

Harry hesitated. He may lie, but...

"I may. He's the only family I have, my Lord," and he let all his emotions to be seen. The feel of the family, of something important, belonging, desire to protect, love. He wasn't sure why he wanted Voldemort, the Dark Lord to understand it, but his brother was really important for him and he didn't want him to die just because Sybill fucking Trelawney said something.

Harry felt Voldemort accurately exploring his emotions and then leaving. He continued looking him in the eyes and after several silent seconds finally said.

"I'll try not to kill him. But I promise nothing."

"Thank you, my Lord," bowed Harry. He expected nothing more from the Dark Lord.

"Now," Voldemort leaned back into the chair. "If you can't tell me about John's training, then tell me about his academic performance. And Neville Longbottom, if you can. And yourself, of course."

Well, it was like reporting to Sirius. That is, _weird_.

"I was in top ten students among my year first three years," Harry started hesitantly. "Don't sure about this one, with Tournament and everything. Best at Defence and Charms. Took Ancient Runes and Arithmancy as electives."

'_And spending most of my free time at the Chamber of Secrets reading about Dark Arts,' _he added silently.

"John isn't really studious," he continued. "Average marks, often miss assignments. But he excels at Defence, it comes naturally to him. For electives, he chose Deviation because it's easy and Care of Magical Creatures. Plays Quidditch."

Voldemort sneered at the end and Harry silently agreed with him. He didn't really like Quidditch either, though he was as good at flying as John.

"I don't know much about Neville," Harry paused, trying to remember anything. "Gryffindor. Skilled at Herbology, but poor at wand work, as far as I can judge. An average student, maybe even less than average. Insecure, frequently bullied."

"I see," Voldemort drawled. "Doesn't seem like the Longbottom child is the one from the prophecy."

'_Please don't ask about school anymore,' _Harry praised.

Dark Lord paused, but then continue questioning.

"Was there anything strange in previous years? There was, of course, me in your first year," Voldemort frowned at this unpleasant memory. "And the Tournament at forth. Something else at the second and third?"

'_Fuck,' _Harry signed and braced himself. _'The diary. He may not know it yet.'_

"The second year," he started slowly, oh so slowly. "The Chamber of Secrets was open."

"_What?!_"

Now there were emotions on his face. Shock mostly. But Voldemort quickly concealed himself.

"Elaborate," he commanded in a harsh tone.

'_Yes, he doesn't know yet. God help me.'_

"Yes, my Lord," he signed and continued. "Four students were petrified, all muggleborns and also one cat and one ghost. After first petrification there was a message on the wall 'the Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware'. Rumours were that it was the Heir of Slytherin. Students were panicking, Dumbledore was almost fired and the school almost closed. But before it happened, the cursed object was found that did all of this," Harry closed his eyes and said as calmly as he could. "Dumbledore confiscated the object and petrifications stopped."

Voldemort hissed. It wasn't even parseltongue, just very angry hissing. Harry shrank and was trying to imagine that he wasn't here. He didn't dare to look at the Dark Lord now.

"What object was it? How was it found? What happened to it next?" he finally asked in an eerily calm voice.

'_Oh fuck, it seems I must tell about my involvement, after all.'_

"It was a simple leather-cover black book with blank pages. A diary of one T. M. Riddle," Harry decided not to show that he knew just whose diary it was. "It was possessing Ginevra Weasley. At some point, she tried to get rid of it and threw the diary out. My brother found it and for some reason wrote something in. The diary answered back and even showed him a memory from the last time the Chamber was opened. Soon after that, the diary was stolen from his dorm." Harry braced himself and continued. "When he told me about it, I asked my friends, who were raised in the wizarding world, was it normal for the book to behave like that. They said no. So after next petrification I went to Headmaster and told him about the strange book. He reacted immediately and organized the global search among students. The diary was found and, I think, destroyed."

And after that, he thoughtfully researched all he could find about Riddle and the previous time the Chamber was opened. Turned out that the ghost in girl's toilet on the second floor was the one who died last time. Myrtle told him that she died right in this toilet after some boy came in and hissed something. And that Ginny visited this toilet several times, looked around and went away. It was obvious, really, where the entrance was. So he found the snake on one of the sinks and then explained to Sasha that all 'mudbloods' run away from the school and she could stop petrifications. Turned out that Riddle actually said the same thing after Myrtle's accidental death. Who was that Riddle guy was obvious too. Really, who was also the parselmouth and appeared from nowhere, while no one ever heard about Riddle despite all his brilliant school records?

Harry mused if Voldemort's current look was like Tom Riddle looked before? He was hot, really.

Meanwhile, Voldemort had a hard time concealing himself. He was sitting with closed eyes, hands covering his mouth and breathing deeply. Harry could understand him. It's not every day you find out that one of your soul pieces was most likely destroyed.

Finally, his eyes opened and he ran the hand through his hair.

"It was destroyed," he confirmed. "Perhaps it was for the best."

'"_For the best"? So you indeed lose one more horcrux before this and destruction of the diary stabilized you?' _That was actually the question that worried Harry the most. If the Dark Lord lost only one horcrux and now had five, he would be unstable and quite insane. But judging by Voldemort's behaviour today he wasn't insane and his recent statement meant that he deemed himself stable. So, he must have lost one more horcrux (or even more), likely before the diary, if his quite insane actions during Harry's first year was anything to go by.

But Harry couldn't ask this. There was no way he was going to explain where he found a book about Horcruxes with Riddle's notes inside. He was just glad that the Dark Lord was stable.

"How exactly the diary ended up in Weasley's hands?" Voldemort inquired after some time.

"I don't know, my Lord. I suspect it was planted in while they were buying books at Diagon Alley. I was with them that day, but I don't remember everyone they interacted with, only Malfoy family." Because really, how could you forget the fistfight between Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley?

"Lucius..." hissed the Dark Lord with such fury that Harry almost pitied Malfoy. Almost. If he indeed threw away the Dark Lord's soul he deserved everything he was about to get. Even if he didn't know what it was. Even if it turned out to be 'for the best' at the end.

"I hope, your third year was a calm one?" Voldemort essentially closed the topic.

"In a way," Harry relaxed now that they were talking about simpler things. "Sirius Black escaped Azkaban and tried to kill Peter Pettigrew who was hiding as a pet rat in Weasley family. But everyone thought Sirius was your right-hand man and that he wanted to kill John."

Voldemort frowned at this. It seemed he knew who Sirius was and didn't like the idea of him being his right-hand.

"But John and I found out that he was our godfather and was sent to Azkaban without a trial," Harry continued. "So we wrote to Daily Prophet and made such a fuss that Fudge was forced to promise him a fair trial in case he was captured. He was and ended up being exonerated, even if Wormtail run away."

He paused and then added some more. "There were also hundreds of dementors on school grounds, which was awful and John almost got kissed. And Defense Professor turned out to be a werewolf. But other than that, it was a calm year."

Harry couldn't keep his smile at the end. Voldemort was just looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"How you both didn't end up getting killed until now is beyond me," he finally concluded.

They were silent now. Harry hoped it was all questioning for today.

But Voldemort thought another way.

"You said earlier that you asked friends raised in the Wizarding World. Why? Weren't you raised here too?"

Harry tensed. He didn't think that the Dark Lord may not know it.

"No, we weren't. After our parents died," he paused a little and looked at Voldemort. It was, after all, weird telling this to the actual killer. "Dumbledore left us at our muggle relatives. Until our Hogwarts letters arrived we didn't know anything about magic and Wizarding World, even while they knew about it. Moreover, they hated magic and tried to 'beat it out' of us."

Voldemort was looking at him now through narrowed eyes.

"At least you left them after that, don't you?" he clarified.

"No, my Lord," Harry shook his head. "Dumbledore forced us to return there because of our mother's blood wards protecting us from you and Death Eaters. But since this summer we're living with Sirius and blood wards should die out without our presence there."

Voldemort hummed darkly.

"Dumbledore just doesn't learn from his mistakes..." he drawled quietly.

Harry wasn't sure what he meant by this but suddenly remembered what else he should probably tell to the Dark Lord. He smiled mischievously. "Actually, our new home is also the Headquarter for the Order of the Phoenix. My Lord."

Voldemort smirked back. "Oh, does it now? I suspect you can't tell me where it is?"

"No, my Lord. It's under Fidelius. Dumbledore is the Secret Keeper."

"Of course, I expected nothing less. Still, it's a nice coincidence," Voldemort was almost smiling now. "Would you be able to spy on them too?"

"I don't sure," honestly answered Harry. "I'm not part of the Order and I don't think anyone would let me attend the meetings. But if I overhear something, I'll share it. I also could tell who the members are. Right now I know only about Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody and Arthur and Molly Weasley. And Albus Dumbledore, of course."

"Good. I already have a spy in the Order, but to have one more doesn't hurt."

He was silent again. Then, an evil glint appeared in his scarlet eyes.

"About your muggle relatives. Who they were again?" Voldemort asked indifferently.

"Dursleys," Harry replayed and then blurted out, unable to stop himself. "4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey."

There was a slight pause after which Harry again felt the push of Legilimency.

"You do understand what you just did, don't you?" slowly enquired Voldemort.

"Yes, my Lord," whispered Harry, not daring to look away and not hiding his emotions.

The malicious smile grew on the Dark Lord's face.

"Are you sure you don't want to kill them by yourself?" he asked softly.

Harry managed to answer only after several seconds, while his traitorous emotions were still running through his head, open for Voldemort to see.

"It doesn't matter for me, my Lord."

He felt sick at the sight of pleased Dark Lord. But Harry really didn't like Dursleys.

"I see," still very softly and almost gently said Voldemort. "Then I guess it's all for today."

He then reached to the pocket and gave Harry a piece of parchment. It was an address.

"I won't risk sending you letters while you in the Order Headquarter, but that is where you can send yours if you find something important and want me to know it as soon as possible. Keep everything else until our next meeting. I want it to be before the school year starts, let's say, August 26th, 3 p.m., here. If it won't work for you, write me a letter with your suggestion, I'll try to arrange it. Otherwise, I just write to you when you will be at Hogwarts," the Dark Lord instructed. "Is everything clear?"

"Yes, my Lord," Harry hid the parchment in his pockets.

"Then, dismissed."

And with a bow and a sip of Polyjuice potion, Harry was gone.

* * *

**AN:**

**I have a problem. I'm trying to rationalize magic. For example, let's look at horcruxes. In canon, they don't have much sense (sorry Rowling). Like, who in their right mind would make a horcrux from mortal being like a snake? Why Dairy tried to get a body, is it normal for a horcrux? Was it sentient? Can all horcruxes do this? Is it stop being a horcrux after getting a body? How horcrux inside Harry influents him, aside from parseltongue and mind link to Voldemort? Why Harry isn't indestructible like others horcruxes? And, most importantly, why only Voldemort made horcruxes, why it's not more popular, it's not like murder is a big deal for dark wizards?**

**Anyway, I tried to explain all of this and I made up a theory behind horcruxes (and quite an original one, as I believe). In this chapter, you may see a glimpse of it, something about the number of hourcruxes and stability. It would be explained more in length later.**

**Read and review, please! 3**


	4. Chapter 4 A new life

**AN: it's kinda filler chapter, sorry, but some important stuff still happens.**

**Please, Read and Review!**

* * *

**Chapter 4. A new life**

So far their first summer away from Dursleys was... new. For the first time, they had a father figure in their life (well, if you don't count something that happened when they were one year old), and Sirius intended to catch up for all years he spent away from them. Add to this that Sirius didn't have a job and was obscenely rich, being the sole heir for House Black and after Ministry's reimbursement, and you understand that he had all resources to absolutely spoil his godsons.

They started with the trip to Diagon Alley where Sirius bought them _everything_. They literally visited every single shop, even if it was junk or second-hand, because "you never know what you can find there!".

They bought a whole new wizarding wardrobe in 'Twilfitt and Tattings', an upmarket clothing shop for rich purebloods. That was a strange experience, to feel themselves like Malfoys, but after an hour they became proud owners of the softest, richest and most fashionable clothes that fit them perfectly and actually suited them. But twins still insisted to buy casual robes at Madam Malkin because, well, they need to guise like normal ordinary people sometimes.

John was terrified that with new clothes they looked almost like proper purebloods but fortunately, their unruly bird's nest instead of hair was dead give away. After that Harry enquired is it possible to do something with this as well and got a lecture about how their grandfather, Fleamont Potter invented Sleekeazy's Hair Potion specifically to deal with the hair mess his family always had. They bought Sleekeazzy too, on Harry's request.

They also found out that it's actually possible to improve their shitty eyesight. It was awfully expensive (several _thousands _of galleons) and quite dangerous because eyes were very sensitive to magic, but possible. Unfortunately, their eyesight was so bad it can't be fixed at once and they needed to come again next year to finish treatment (which means even more money to spend), but it was still significantly improved.

When they proceed to choose new glasses, turned out that there was a great variety of enchantments for them. For example, resistance to water, fog and summoning charms, sticking charm so they never would come off accidentally, sunshade mode, detection of poisons in food... Harry finally understood why mightly wizards like Dumbledore wore glasses. They could be damn useful! And so twins ended up picking all possible enchantments for their new glasses.

Sirius insisted they needed to buy an owl as they couldn't both use Hedwig. Because, well, what if they need to send letters at the same time? But twins just couldn't cope with this. Hedwig wasn't just some owl, no, it was a beloved pet that belonged to both of them and if they bought a new owl it would be like a betrayal. For the same reason, they didn't choose any other animal. Although Harry lingered near the terrarium with snakes. But after long musing, he decided that regardless of how much he wanted to have a pet snake, he couldn't allow it for the same reason he wasn't sorted in Slytherin. And with a snake, it would be harder to hide his parseltongue abilities, which was also quite important for him. So no, twins just bought a variety of owl treats and nothing more.

One of the most useful purchases were magical trunks with several compartments. They even had a library compartment there! Harry was excited. If only it would be possible to live inside a trunk... But no, prolonged presence of being with a magical core inside a trunk could break its enchantments and trunk may literally collapse into themselves with everything and every_one _inside. Harry was musing how Moody was kept in a trunk then and conclude that maybe Pseudo-Moody (he still didn't know who it actually was) changed trunks on a regular basis. Still, they were really useful even without a flat inside. All these build-in feather-light and shrinking charms, various protection wards and ability to set a password... They were cool, really, and actually worth the money, unlike fancy clothes.

Sirius didn't finish at this. He bought Firebolt for Harry (John already had one), great variety of books and journals, quills with refilling ink (_'Oh, so wizards did come up with the idea of a pen then.'_), cauldrons and brewing tools (even if neither of twins really liked brewing, thanks to Snape), wist-holders for wands, healer kits and potions for all occasions, many joke items for pranks, invisibility cloak for Harry (not so fancy comparing to their family heirloom in John's possession, but still quite useful), school bags, mokeskin pouches, huge collection of wizarding sweets and many, many, many other things.

If twins were someone else they could actually spoil themselves with all of this. But they both already used to live modestly, had good friends from ordinary families and saw just how nasty spoiled children may be. But that didn't say they couldn't have fun running among shops with Sirius, laughing, buying some random stuff and frightening everyone around with their attitude.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing Sirius did for them.

One of the least pleasant things he forced them to do was to went through complete health-check, insisting that they needed it after living with Dursleys. It lasted a couple of hours but after that, they were completely healed and felt themselves better than ever. Harry didn't even know you could feel so... healthy. Though they still needed to take nutritious potions for several weeks.

At Gringotts thay did inheritance test to check that everything was right, Sirius made them heirs for House Black and twins got their heir rings for both Potter and Black Houses. Rings were mostly just a symbol and didn't have any fascinating enchantments, although they could be hidden and were also connected to their vaults and so may be used as credit cards. Unfortunately, this payment method didn't work everywhere so they still needed to have money with them. Well, just like in muggle world.

Sirius took twins to Quidditch match and played it with them at the backyard. He asked numerous questions about their school life, friends, who their most and least favourite professors are, what pranks they (mostly John) did so far, what exciting events happened in last years, what they are going to do after graduation and so on. Of course, he also took great pleasure in telling them about his own time in school, about Marauders, Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs, even if he avoided mentioning Wormtail. John loved it while Harry personally thought that their pranks were sometimes more like bullying, especially with Slytherins, but he refrained from commenting on that. Anyway, it was indeed great listening to their father's adventures with his closest friends, how they trained to become animagi, how they created the map, how James courted Lily...

And that's why, despite Voldemort's recent resurrection, it was so far the best summer in their life. Despite the Dark Lord growing his strength somewhere in the shadows, despite they lived in one of the most protected houses in London and couldn't exchange letters with their friends freely, they rarely remembered about that. The only reminders of the approaching war were Prophet's headlines accusing John in lies and people staring at them in the Diagon Alley. But Sirius always did his best to cheer them up and destruct from this.

They finally had someone who actually cared about them.

* * *

At the second week of their summer, Remus returned from some mission he was sent to by the Order. He currently lived with them at Grimmauld Place as he couldn't even find a job now with anti-werewolf legislation, let alone provide a flat for himself. Not like it was a problem for Sirius, he was only glad to have someone to live with when twins return to Hogwarts, but Remus was uncomfortable with sitting on his friend's neck and so was still trying to find a job.

The werewolf was a little disappointed that he missed all insane running through Diagon Alley, but only a little, as he wasn't exactly ready to participate in that, and he actually scolded Sirius for spoiling twins. But he eagerly joined to Sirius' tales about their school years together, telling about the aftermath and all detentions they got for their pranks and admitting that some of them were indeed rather cruel and unjustified and twins shouldn't repeat after them.

Remus was more mature and reserved, balancing reckless and impulsive Sirius. After a week of living with him, Harry could tell that Sirius was actually more like an older brother, who was forced to take some responsibilities on himself due to the absence of parents, but he wasn't mature enough to be a parent himself. When Remus returned it become even more clear as the werewolf didn't just take responsibilities, he also always remembered about consequences.

Harry actually liked Remus more. He himself was a calmer one from the twins, balancing John and often being a voice of reason for him. So it's no wonder that Harry was closer to Remus, while John preferred to spend time with Sirius. They were just more... compatible with each other. It's not like Harry disliked Sirius, quite the contrary, but sometimes he was tired of his antics.

And so when they were all playing at simplified Quidditch today and Remus excuse himself to leave, Harry left too. After all, he didn't really like playing Quidditch, although it was fun to spend time together. Anyway, it's not like they could continue playing when there were three of them. So Harry left John and Sirius alone, as they were more than capable to have fun together and followed Remus inside the house.

"You're leaving? Where?" he asked, when he saw Remus returning from his room in clean presentable robes.

"Job interview again. 'Flourish and Blotts' needs an assistant. Maybe they would be ready to overlook my 'half-breed' nature," with a sad smile answered werewolf.

Harry winced, remembering anti-werewolf legislation. Hatred for so-called 'half-breeds' was even stronger than beliefs in the importance of blood purity. It's to be expected, of course, as people quite often hate those who are not like them. Giants, veela, werewolves... But couldn't people see what a grave mistake they were making by chasing werewolves away from the society even more than it was before? They were turning werewolves into even more dangerous creatures. Because when everyone hates you, you eventually start to hate them back. And if you also have a beast inside you, then... well... In short, if Harry was a Dark Lord, he would surely use these discarded werewolves as his deadly weapons. Weapons, _created _by people he would turn them against.

He was fourteen and already saw flaws with this legislation. Why its author didn't see them?

"Oh. Well, good luck then," finally answered Harry.

"Thank you, I'll need it," Remus laughed half-heartedly. "Why did you leave others? You could just fly around together, without playing."

"I'm just... tired," Harry shrugged.

"Want to have some time alone?" guesses Remus with a smile.

"Yeah," signed Ravenclaw. "Sometimes I just need to sit in blissful silence."

"Sure," drawled werewolf. "And no insidious plans while no one in the house?"

Harry smiles mischievously and asked with playful indignation. "How could you accuse me of this?"

"Sirius would be so disappointed if you don't use such an opportunity," Remus shook his head, laughing. He was already leaving the house, heading to his interview. "Bye pup."

Harry just stood there for a minute, making sure that Sirius and John weren't returning just yet. And then went straight to the main hall.

He took a deep breath, preparing himself, and opened the curtains.

"Good day, Mrs Black."

"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers-"

Harry patiently waited until the portrait paused a little and then he finally interfered.

"I couldn't agree more with you, Mrs Black," he said gravely.

The portrait silenced, blinking at him in surprise. Seeing that he had its attention, Harry continued.

"Sirius is an awful disgrace for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. You were absolutely right to disown him and it's a shame he was able to escape from Azkaban and return here. He even dared to bring a filthy werewolf with him! And my brother is not better, just the same muggle-loving blood-traitor."

Walburga Black just continued blinking at him.

"You're the only sane person here, Mrs Black," at this, eyes of the portrait narrowed in suspicious and Harry was astonished how Walburga was able to detect when the important bit starts even while being just a painting. "I was forced to live with these filthy blood-traitors, but I don't want to be like them. I respect what you and House of Black were standing for and now, when Sirius made me his heir, I was hoping to restore the greatness our House once hold. But I can't do this alone and I don't have enough knowledge yet," the portrait was still silent and it was _unnerving_. "I was thinking, maybe you would be so kind as to help me to gain access to the Dark section in the Library, Mrs Black? Then I would be able to do more for our House."

Walburga looked totally unimpressed.

"What's your name, child?" she asked querulously.

Harry signed. Seems like it didn't work after all. "Harry Potter," he still answered.

"A Potter," she spat. "Son of a blood-traitor and a mudblood-"

"And I'm glad they died before they could influence me," Harry quickly interrupted her. "Potters is an old pureblood family, one mudblood isn't enough to irrevocably taint them. And I'm looking forward to being a proper wizard, better than my family is."

"Don't you think I can't see what you are doing here, child," snarled Walburga angrily. "Who are you, a Slytherin?"

"Ravenclaw, actually," politely corrected her Harry.

"Of course, the library...", she drawled with a smirk. "Still, you are a Potter, they were always Light, why are you interested in Dark books?"

"There is no Light and Dark, only magic," he whispered. Then signed and continue in a normal voice, "I wasn't raised in the Light family, Mrs Black, and wasn't influenced by their stupid beliefs. Instead, I was raised by worse kind of muggles and I _hate _all of them now. It doesn't matter that I was born a Potter."

She studied him silently for several long seconds.

"My disgrace of a son actually made you an heir?" clarified the portrait.

"Yes, Mrs Black," nodded Harry, hope's raising in his chest. "Me and my brother, but I'm the older one."

"If there is even a slight chance that House of Black will have a proper heir..." she muttered in resignation. Then she suddenly shouted. "Kreacher!"

The house elf immediately popped near the portrait. "Yes, Mistress?"

"Help the child here to bypass wards in the Library unnoticed by my son, when he calls for you," ordered Walburga in a stern voice.

Kreacher looked at him in clear distaste. "But he's a friend of mudbloods and blood-traitors, nasty brat-"

"He has potential," stopped him Walburga. "Help him, it's an order."

"Yes, Mistress," obediently but unhappily uttered Kreacher and popped away.

Harry deeply bowled to the portrait, hiding his satisfied smile.

"Thank you, Mrs Black," he said gratefully. "I won't disappoint you."

Walburga just muttered something inaudible and the curtains closed.

Harry exhaled in relief. _'I did it. I actually did it!' _He still couldn't believe he managed to coax insane portrait to help him. Harry had no idea how exactly Kreacher will bypass the wards, but he was looking forward to find it out.

Soon Sirius and John returned from the backyard.

"Oh, I see you were here alone all this time," smiled Sirius mischievously, seeing very pleased Harry sitting in the kitchen. "I hope you made good use of this."

"But of course, Padfoot," smiled back Harry. "How could I not?"

* * *

He went to the library at night, when everyone was asleep and couldn't catch him.

The Black Library was magnificent. It had plenty of books on many subjects, but most importantly, it had a huge section about Dark Arts. It was expected, as the House of Black was very old and a Dark one. But the problem was that there were wards around Dark Section, stopping him from coming close to books, let alone take some. Harry believed he was capable of breaking them, but Sirius would be notified for sure. So it was out of the question as he couldn't let anyone know about his interest in the Dark Arts.

It was quite suspicious, actually, that the Restricted section in Hogwarts didn't have such wards. Harry suspected that it instead had monitoring wards, notifying the Headmaster about every visitor. Or every visitor without a pass. Anyway, it's not like the Restricted section had truly dark and dangerous books. It was more about satisfying students' curiosity when they wanted to rebel and 'go dark'.

Library in the Chamber was much better, but smaller. And it had a quite specific collection, mostly of ancient books in old-English with several new additions brought by Riddle.

So, when Harry was looking at all these blocked bookcases in Black Library, his Ravenclaw's heart was hammering with gleeful anticipation.

"Kreacher!" elf obediently popped near, looking at him sullenly. "Could you please help me to bypass these wards?"

It was weird to address deranged house elf politely, but Hermione always told house elves were nicer to those who treat them well. He could as well test it.

Kreacher muttered something about blood-traitors but obeyed and snapped his fingers.

And wards were gone. As if they never were there in the first place.

"Are you sure Sirius wouldn't notice this?" he inquired slowly. "Could you return wards back when I finished?" Harry started to think it was after all a bad, bad idea to trust insane portrait and crazy house elf.

"Blood-traitor won't notice anything," grumbled Kreacher. "Not that Kreacher removed wards, not that Kreacher put them back."

Harry frown warily. "Does every house elf has this power?" If it was the case, then it was a huge hole in their protections.

"Kreacher is bound to the ancestral home of the Black family. Kreacher may manipulate many wards here," came the answer. "But other elves can't."

Ravenclaw processed this for several seconds.

"So, you have this power only in this house, because you were 'bound' to it, but not for all wards here," he said pensively. "No other elf could manipulate our wards. And you can't manipulate wards not in this house. That's not as bad as I thought."

'_I really need to read about house elves' magic,' _he mused. _'Should have read that after incidents with Dobby, actually.'_

He finally went exploring among bookcases, noting what Arts was there and how everything was organised.

There were books about everything he could think about. Potions, rituals, artefacts, Mind Arts, Blood Magic, Soul Magic, and many, many books about offence, the most popular area of Dark Arts among wizards and witches. Harry lingered near books about Dark_defence_. He didn't know there were defence technics that were considered Dark. Although it did make sense, now that he thought about it.

Harry refrained from picking every book he was interested in right away. He had time, he could return here later. So for now, he was musing, it would be enough to take... let's think... two books, yes. Maybe three. He can't read more at once, after all.

The first book was about Blood Magic, as he still wanted to find out what his mother did. To pick up the next he returned to section about Mind Arts.

Maybe it was his Ravenclaw nature, but Harry personally thought that Mind Arts were essential for any sensible wizard or witch. It's your _mind_, after all. Your most dangerous weapon. You should perfect it as fervently as your wand work, if not more.

Occlumency was helping to organise your mind, memories and feelings, making you the master of your own mind, giving you instruments to watch over external and internal forces influencing your, thus also protecting you from invasion by others or, in other words, from Legilimency.

Legilimency was also strengthening your mind, but if Occlumency helped to organise it and keep protected, Legilimency was channelling it in what you want. With its help, you could control your emotions, desires, amplifying or weakening them, directing your mental force in where you want it to be, stopping yourself from distracting on irrelevant trifles. It was actually very dangerous Art that required strong willpower, that could change you into a completely new person or break you if you are not capable of dealing with your own mind. And even while it was giving you incredibly useful ability to look in others' minds, people rarely were brave enough to learn it as it may come at great cost.

Another field of Mind Arts that was interesting Harry greatly was Memory Charms. He suspected they were actually the main reason why Mind Arts were deemed Dark. With Legilimency you could only read other's mind, but with Memory Charms you could _rewrite _it. After all, our memories are what was making us what we are a great deal. Wiping your memories or giving you new ones could change you as no amount of Legilimency ever could.

Fortunately, Memory Charms was hard to master. Even simple _Obliviate_, that was just roughly wiping your recent memories and replacing them with some _idea_, in unexperienced hands was able to uncontrollable wipe a large amount of other's mind, damaging it beyond any repair. But knowledge of Occlumency and, even better, Legilimency, was helping to control it. And it was just so damn useful!

And so Harry ended up picking introduction books about Legilimency and Memory Charms. He needed to master them if he wanted to continue hiding. After all, it would be better to wipe memories instead of killing in case someone discovers him.

"Kreacher," he called again and house elf popped near him. "Could you please put the wards back?"

With a simple snap of elf's fingers, wards were in place again. "Thank you, Kreacher," Harry politely said. "You are a very good elf, worthy of House of Black."

It seems flattery worked better on house elves than on portraits, as Kreacher fluttered and popped away with huge eyes.

Harry returned to his room and hid books under the bed. First time in his life he had a separate room just for himself and it was_awesome_. He didn't need to care that someone may notice him sneaking out at nights, didn't need to hide and heavily ward his possessions, didn't need to cope with noises others made, didn't need to feign sleep when he was, in fact, training his Occlumency.

Speaking of, Harry sat in meditation pose, preparing for his daily training. Despite his shields were already strong enough to stop basic Legilimence through eye contact or rough _Obliviate_, should someone apply more force and his mind would be exposed. He needed to make shields stronger. While no amount of shields could keep him protected for certain as there always might be even more skilful Legiliment that could break them, after some point breaking shields become equal to breaking the mind. It was essentially the same as killing and that fact was, actually, the best protection from Legilimency and Memory Charms. Usually, when someone wanted to read or rewrite your mind, they wanted you alive, and thus strong Occlumency gave you an opportunity to negotiate. Not mentioning other benefits of organising your mind.

Harry trained almost every day and wasn't going to stop doing so any time soon. His mind was his most valuable possession and it should be protected and well-prepared.

He looked at his emotional landscape and smiled. Voldemort was back, the war was near and he was a spy in the heart of the resistance. But despite all of this, he felt oddly content and... _happy _with his new life.

* * *

**AN: ****So, you can see here that Harry is somewhat dark. He doesn't think about werewolves rights but about using them as weapons. And he thinks about killing in case someone discovers him. It doesn't say he's actually capable of killing (yet), but I wanted to make it clear he's not, well, exactly a good person.**

**I also tried to show that Harry is not super-smart. Like, the portrait didn't buy his flattery. He didn't even think beforehand what to do if Kreacher was unable to bypass the wards unnoticed, he just blindly trusted him and the portrait. So, yes, he's kinda smart, but he's still an unexperienced teenager and people around him are not idiots. He yet has much to learn.**

**Next chapter is about more serious stuff. Would be ready in a couple of days or so, I think.**


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